George Russell Wins F1; Kostecki Sweeps Supercars at Albert Park

George Russell won the 2026 Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park on Sunday, finishing 2.974 seconds ahead of Kimi Antonelli, with Charles Leclerc third, according to official results. The 58-lap race covered 306.124 km around the 5.278 km circuit. Russell had taken pole position by nearly eight tenths of a second over Isack Hadjar and dominated the weekend, winning with relative ease.

Max Verstappen’s day ended after just four laps when a brake malfunction forced him to retire, ending his winning streak. The result reshuffled the championship order and handed Mercedes a commanding one-two finish at a circuit where the team has historically struggled.

Supercars supremacy and a maiden F1-style weekend

While the F1 race grabbed global headlines, the Supercars action across the weekend was just as gripping. Brodie Kostecki won the final race at Albert Park, taking his third victory of the weekend and securing the Larry Perkins Trophy for the 2026 Melbourne Supersprint, per series reports. Kostecki overtook Will Brown on the penultimate lap to win by 1.75 seconds in a crash-shortened race. Ryan Wood of Walkinshaw TWG Racing finished third, marking Toyota’s first podium finish in Supercars since entering the series in 2026.

Kostecki now leads the championship with 485 points, ahead of Cam Waters who has 467 points. Cameron Waters finished fourth after climbing from 11th on the grid, while Jack Le Brocq secured sixth as the top Chevrolet driver. The results underline the depth of talent in a series that continues to draw capacity crowds to Albert Park, particularly for the Saturday and Sunday support races.

How to get involved: from karting to race control

For those inspired by the weekend’s racing, getting started in motorsport at Albert Park itself is not possible-the circuit is a temporary street track. But the venue’s year-round redevelopment is opening pathways. A major $6.6 million-plus sports facility upgrade at Albert Park includes a new sporting pavilion at Field 14 and 15 (started late 2025, completed mid-2026), plus changeroom, lighting, and energy efficiency upgrades across nine facilities, according to project documentation. The Albert Park Pit Building redevelopment, which will add 14 F1 garages, new race control, expanded hospitality for 5,000 more fans, and seven indoor sport courts, begins construction after the 2026 F1 Grand Prix and is scheduled to complete by April 2028 in time for the 2028 race.

The project secures Albert Park as the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix venue until 2037 and enhances year-round community use with improved clubrooms and indoor sport courts. For those wanting to drive, the best starting point is a local karting track or a Supercars-affiliated driver academy-both of which feed into the series that Kostecki currently leads. Volunteer marshals, race officials, and track-day staff are also consistently in demand at Albert Park during Grand Prix week and at the numerous club-level events that use the surrounding road network on non-race weekends.

South East Water is constructing a 1.9 km branch sewer upgrade across Albert Park and surrounding streets in multiple stages, with the full project scheduled for completion by mid-2026, meaning parts of the park will remain a construction zone through the remainder of this year. Despite the works, the park’s sporting facilities remain open for community use, and the new pavilion at Fields 14 and 15 is expected to host local football and cricket clubs from next season.